catheroominations

When I joined Team in Training I knew I was committing myself to hours and miles of running, and fund raising thousands of dollars. I figured I’d have no problem raising the money, but what I didn’t bank on was how much money it would cost me to be appropriately attired and accessorized for my new hobby.

Here’s what I have purchased so far:
Dri-fit tops (two long-sleeved, two short) – $70
Warm-up jacket – $20 at TJ Maxx
Running socks – $10 for 3 pairs
New running shoes – $110
Garmin GPS training watch – $179 rather than $375 (thank god for Costco)
Fuel belt – $45
Gloves – $4
Ear warmers – $10
Dri-fit running underwear. (Yes, I bought running underwear) – $16 for one pair
Sports bra – $33
Jelly Belly Sports Beans – $1 each bag

I never thought I’d be running with jelly beans in my pocket, but they really do give me a boost of energy when I start lagging. Plus, they’re CANDY!

The hardest thing to get used to, moreso than the physical exertion, is the time commitment. Every Tuesday after work is a grueling track workout with our coaches, every Thursday is a buddy run (either in the morning or at night) with the team mentors, alternating Saturday mornings we have long runs with the entire team (this coming weekend is my first attempt at eight miles), and on weekends when we don’t have a team run, we do runs in small running groups or on our own. Yesterday we only ran four miles. I never thought I’d say only and four miles together, but it was easy. And fun.

The coaches encourage two days of cross-training on days we don’t run (with two days of rest during the week). Currently, my cross-training consists of Wii tennis and Wii bowling. I’m sure that’s not what they had in mind, but seriously, it’s about all I can handle. I like being home. I like sitting on my ass. And after work, it’s difficult to get me to do anything but that.

During Thursday’s Turkey Trot 10K, I struggled to finish. I struggled to enjoy myself. There were a gazillion people signed up. Or six thousand. The walking course was the same as the running course and the walkers never heard of “slower traffic keep right.” This created an obstacle course of people moseying down the streets of San Jose, baby strollers, squeaky little dogs running their legs off, and crumb-snatchers rugrats kids. I stopped to re-tie my shoes about five times before considering tying them in double-knots (duh). A TNT captain running with us three TNT participants was negative and pissy and bossy. She also slowed us down. But mostly she harshed my running buzz. I do much better with my TNT teammates who are happy and excited about reaching the next mile. None of us have ever run a marathon, a half marathon, or even more than 6.2 miles. We congratulate each other when we’re done. We encourage one another to “keep going, we’re almost there.” Encouragement is key, and at the risk of sounding like I need validation, I crave encouragement. There are people in my life who do not support me in my training, and while I think that’s pretty shitty, it makes me want to work even harder to reach my goal. So I can say “See? See what I can do?” Not that they’d really care, but it makes me feel better.

I struggle with self-doubt on a regular basis, and training for something like a half marathon both feeds the self-doubt and destroys it. The 10K last week kind of freaked me out because it was hard, it was long, it was exhausting, and at times I hated it. I could not imagine myself finishing an event over twice that distance (and I still sort of can’t).

But I’m not alone. Right now, none of my running mates think we will ever be able to complete the endurance event that we’re training so hard for. At the same time we all know we will.